Presented by ZAMZOWS.
This Day In Sports…January 23, 1936:
One of the most famous athletes ever to come out of the state of Idaho, Jerry Kramer, is born in the town of Jordan, MT, before moving to Sandpoint when he was in the fourth grade. From there he went to the University of Idaho, where he was a two-way All-American guard (and also a kicker). Then with the Green Bay Packers, Kramer was a one-way guard, a 6-3, 245-pounder at a time when that was a stout weight for an NFL lineman. He played every game as a rookie after being drafted in the fourth round in 1958.
Kramer delivered the most recognized block in NFL history—allowing Bart Starr to score the winning touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1967 NFL Championship Game, the legendary “Ice Bowl” game. On third-and-goal from inside the Cowboys’ one-yard line with 16 seconds remaining and no timeouts, the Packers gambled that Kramer would be able to open a hole, and the rest is history. It was indeed the “frozen tundra of Lambeau Field,” as the temperature at kickoff was 13 below with a wind chill of 36 below.
There isn’t much fame associated with an offensive guard in the NFL. That was especially the case in the 1960s. But Kramer broke the mold with his book “Instant Replay,” his diary of the Packers’ 1967 season. His intent wasn’t a book when he started the diary, but after the campaign resulted in the “Ice Bowl” and the Super Bowl II win over the Oakland Raiders in Vince Lombardi’s final game as Green Bay’s coach, he teamed up with renowned sports journalist Dick Schaap to get it written. It was a best-seller, and it’s still called one of the best inside looks at the NFL ever produced.
Finally—and I do mean finally—Kramer was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 after 11 nominations over 45 years. He played for the Packers from 1958-68 and was a five-time All-Pro. He was part of five NFL championships, including victories in the first two Super Bowls. Yet Kramer was the only member of the 1969 NFL 50th Anniversary Team who hadn’t been enshrined in Canton, OH. He’s a fixture there now. Jerry Kramer…90 years old today.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
